Who says all the Blackhawks’ news is bad?
They got some good news Tuesday. The injury to Eric Daze’s left knee that knocked him out of the final two periods of Monday night’s 1-0 loss to Los Angeles has been diagnosed as a slight sprain. Daze might play Friday night in St. Louis.
In a six-week span the Hawks have lost goalie Chris Terreri (fractured finger) and left wings Bob Probert (torn rotator cuff), Ethan Moreau (broken ankle) and Sergei Krivokrasov (sprained knee)–and gone winless at home (0-5-4). So learning Daze might not miss a game was welcome news. He’s the club’s second-leading scorer with 18 points and No. 2 goal scorer with 12. He had five goals in five games before getting shut out in the last three games.
Same old same old: At this point it doesn’t matter if the Hawks play well at the United Center, as they did in outplaying the Kings. “The bottom line is, you’ve got to win,” goalie Jeff Hackett said.
And that’s a fact. Consistently losing at home last season nearly cost the Hawks a playoff spot. It surely will this season if they don’t discover how to put the puck in the net. They’re 5-10-4 at the UC, scoring just 36 goals and getting shut out four times.
“Sometimes you’re going to win when you don’t play your best game, and sometimes you’re going to lose when you play your best game,” said Steve Dubinsky, trying to put a positive spin on the latest shutout. “We’re definitely building in the right direction. We’ve only allowed one goal in the last three games. From a team standpoint, we have to look at it as a positive.”
Another positive?
“We’re still in the middle of the playoff race,” Chris Chelios said, although the Hawks currently don’t own a playoff spot. “Unfortunately, it’s for the sixth, seventh, eighth spots, but if we get healthy we could be a whole different team by the end of the year. We just have to keep working and playing well defensively and give ourselves a chance to win games.”
The Hawks had plenty of chances Monday, but Kings goalie Jamie Storr was up to them all, stopping 32 shots.
“If we can get an effort like that every night, we’re going to win more than we lose,” Dubinsky said.
“The chances are there–that’s a positive,” said Jean-Yves Leroux, who hit the post with 2 minutes 34 seconds left in the third period. “But we have to start winning some games at home.”
Said Chelios: “Other teams aren’t having trouble scoring. We just have to find a way.”
Airtight: The Hawks haven’t allowed a power-play goal in six games, successfully killing 22 penalties. In the last 15 games they have survived 51 of 55 shorthanded situations.
Hawk in waiting: Todd White continues to thrive in the International Hockey League. With two assists in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to Cleveland, the rookie center has 15 goals and 33 points in 23 games.